Is text mode install from a DVD or other .iso possible?

[Andrew Spiers <andrew@andrewspiers.net>]

Hi,

This command will let me install debian from the installer, in text
mode, which is very handy:

virt-install --connect "qemu:///system" --name internet
                                 \
 --ram 512
                                 \
 --os-type linux --os-variant debiansqueeze
                                 \
 --virt-type kvm
                                 \
 --disk pool=diskpool,device=disk,bus=virtio,size=8,sparse=true,format=qcow2
                           \
 --network network=default,model=virtio
                                 \
 --network network=westpublic,model=virtio
                                 \
 --network network=eastpublic,model=virtio
                                 \
 --nographics
                                 \
 -x "DEBIAN_FRONTEND=text console=ttyS0,115200"
                                 \
 --location http://mirror.internode.on.net/pub/debian/dists/squeeze/main/installer-amd64


I've tried swapping out the --location switch for the --cdrom switch
and specifying locations with the Debian DVD and the netinst .iso
file, and both times the machine boots, but I get nothing at my
prompt. Is there any way to do this with debian?